A Canutillo Independent School District administrator, who allegedly received directives that might have been attempts to cheat federal accountability measures, will retire at the end of the school year, a district spokesman said Tuesday night.

Janine Hammock, special education director, gave her retirement notice in January, a month after the school board received an internal audit that found attempts to lower the numbers of limited English-proficient and special education students so that they wouldn't factor in federal adequate yearly progress results.

The audit does not name Hammock, but it does name her position.

Hammock could not be reached for comment. District officials did not provide her annual salary late Tuesday.

Because it involved a personnel issue, district spokes man Gustavo Reveles Acosta said, he could not comment on whether Hammock was facing disciplinary action from the school board.

Late Tuesday, the school board discussed in closed session "personnel matters regarding possible recommendation for non-renewal of the term contracts of certain employees and possible staff reassignments."

Board President Armando Rodriguez told the El Paso Times before Tuesday's meeting that the agenda item was related to the audit findings, but he wouldn't comment on which employees might be affected.

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In early December, the school board used the internal findings to start the process of firing former Superintendent Damon Murphy, who resigned in exchange for about $19,500 a couple weeks later.

The audit alleged that Murphy asked Hammock to create options for lowering the numbers of special education students at the district's two middle schools for the 2010-11 school year.

To keep the number of special education students at Canutillo Middle School below the threshold for being counted in federal measures, 11 students were transferred to Jose Alderete Middle School, the audit found.

The audit also alleged that Murphy ordered former Canutillo High School Principal Jim Fry, who resigned last June, to reduce the number of limited-English-speaking students who took the 10th-grade state-mandated exams.

The sophomore-level standardized tests determine whether a district or school is meeting federal standards.

The district's internal findings, which are part of a broader ongoing audit of student grade-level placements, prompted the Texas Education Agency to launch its own audit to determine whether the district cheated accountability.

Murphy has been implicated in similar accusations surrounding a cheating scandal that has shaken the neighboring El Paso Independent School District, where he was an associate superintendent until 2010.

In 2008, Murphy allegedly sent an email to high school principals and counselors ordering that foreign transfer students be held in the ninth grade for an entire year regardless of whether they had sufficient credits to qualify for different grade levels.

Hayley Kappes may be reached at hkappes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6168. Follow her on Twitter @hayleykappes